Systems and methods that make use of logical partitions of a second tier of disk storage at a disaster recovery (DR) site remote from a production site as part of a DR setup to advantageously reduce disruption to production site data production operations during DR procedures while providing for the substantially immediate recall or retrieval of data previously migrated to the remote second tier of disk storage.
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1. A method for use in disaster recovery (DR), comprising: migrating copies of one or more virtual tape volumes (VTVs) that store a first production dataset from a virtual tape library (VTL) of a production site to a first of a plurality of logical partitions of a virtual library extension (VLE) at a DR site over at least one network; declaring a DR procedure at the production site; and migrating copies of VTVs storing a second production dataset generated after the DR procedure declaration from the production site VTL to a second of the plurality of logical partitions of the DR site VLE, wherein the first production dataset was generated before the DR procedure declaration.
In disaster recovery (DR), this method migrates copies of virtual tape volumes (VTVs) holding an initial production dataset from a production site's virtual tape library (VTL) to the first logical partition of a virtual library extension (VLE) at a remote DR site over a network. When a DR procedure is initiated, subsequently generated production data (second production dataset) is migrated from the production site VTL to a second logical partition on the DR site VLE. This separates pre-DR and post-DR data.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: migrating copies of the one or more VTVs storing the first production dataset from the production site VTL to a local storage system at the production site.
The disaster recovery method described previously (migrating copies of virtual tape volumes (VTVs) holding an initial production dataset from a production site's virtual tape library (VTL) to the first logical partition of a virtual library extension (VLE) at a remote DR site over a network, and when a DR procedure is initiated, subsequently generated production data (second production dataset) is migrated from the production site VTL to a second logical partition on the DR site VLE) also includes migrating copies of the initial VTVs to a local storage system at the production site. This provides redundancy at the production site itself.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the local storage system comprises a VLE or a tape library.
The disaster recovery method where an initial production dataset is migrated to a DR site, and a second dataset generated after DR initiation is also migrated to the DR site, and also includes migrating copies of the initial VTVs to a local storage system at the production site, specifies that the local storage system on the production site can be either a virtual library extension (VLE) or a physical tape library.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: marking the first logical partition as read-only in response to declaring the DR procedure.
The disaster recovery method described previously (migrating copies of virtual tape volumes (VTVs) holding an initial production dataset from a production site's virtual tape library (VTL) to the first logical partition of a virtual library extension (VLE) at a remote DR site over a network, and when a DR procedure is initiated, subsequently generated production data (second production dataset) is migrated from the production site VTL to a second logical partition on the DR site VLE) further involves setting the first logical partition (containing the initial data) to read-only status after declaring the start of the DR procedure. This prevents accidental modification of the original data.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising during the DR procedure: auditing the first logical partition to obtain copies of VTVs storing the first production dataset; and populating one or more control data sets (CDSs) at the DR site with the audited and obtained first production dataset.
The disaster recovery method described previously (migrating copies of virtual tape volumes (VTVs) holding an initial production dataset from a production site's virtual tape library (VTL) to the first logical partition of a virtual library extension (VLE) at a remote DR site over a network, and when a DR procedure is initiated, subsequently generated production data (second production dataset) is migrated from the production site VTL to a second logical partition on the DR site VLE) includes, during the DR procedure, auditing the first logical partition to get copies of the VTVs storing the first dataset and then populating one or more control data sets (CDSs) at the DR site with this obtained data. This ensures the DR site has the initial dataset available.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the one or more CDSs are empty before the populating.
The disaster recovery method of auditing the first logical partition to get copies of the initial VTVs and then populating one or more control data sets (CDSs) at the DR site with this data, clarifies that these control data sets (CDSs) are initially empty before being populated with the initial production dataset's information. This ensures a clean slate for the DR process.
7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising during the DR procedure: auditing the second logical partition to obtain copies of VTVs storing the second production dataset; and populating one or more additional CDSs at the DR site with the audited and obtained second production dataset, wherein an organization's data production operations are performed at the production site before DR procedure declaration, and further comprising after populating the one or more CDSs with the audited and obtained first and second production datasets: continuing the organization's data production operations from the DR site.
The disaster recovery method of auditing the first logical partition to get copies of the initial VTVs and then populating one or more control data sets (CDSs) at the DR site with this data, where those CDSs are initially empty before being populated, also audits the second logical partition to obtain copies of VTVs storing the second production dataset (data generated after DR initiation). Additional control data sets at the DR site are populated with this second dataset. After both sets of CDSs are populated, the organization's data production operations are continued from the DR site using the data in the CDSs, having been performed at the production site before DR procedure declaration.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising during the DR procedure: generating a third production dataset at the DR site; storing the third production dataset in one or more virtual tape volumes (VTVs) of a VTL at the DR site; and migrating the one or more VTVs storing the third production dataset from the DR site VTL to a third of the plurality of logical partitions at the DR site VLE.
The disaster recovery method described previously (migrating copies of virtual tape volumes (VTVs) holding an initial production dataset from a production site's virtual tape library (VTL) to the first logical partition of a virtual library extension (VLE) at a remote DR site over a network, and when a DR procedure is initiated, subsequently generated production data (second production dataset) is migrated from the production site VTL to a second logical partition on the DR site VLE) also includes generating a third production dataset at the DR site during the DR procedure, storing this data in VTVs of a VTL at the DR site, and then migrating those VTVs to a third logical partition within the VLE at the DR site.
9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising during the DR procedure: restricting the production site's access to the third logical partition; and restricting the DR site's access to the second logical partition.
The disaster recovery method of generating a third dataset during the DR procedure, storing it on VTVs at the DR site, and then migrating those VTVs to a third logical partition, includes restricting the production site's access to this third logical partition and restricting the DR site's access to the second logical partition (containing production data generated after DR declaration and before the third dataset). This provides isolation between data in different states of the DR process.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising during the DR procedure: modifying the first production dataset at the production site; storing the modified first production dataset in one or more virtual tape volumes (VTVs) of the production site VTL; migrating the one or more VTVs storing the modified first production dataset from the production site VTL to a local storage system at the production site; and migrating copies of the one or more VTVs storing the modified first production dataset from the production site VTL to the second logical partition of the DR site VLE.
The disaster recovery method described previously (migrating copies of virtual tape volumes (VTVs) holding an initial production dataset from a production site's virtual tape library (VTL) to the first logical partition of a virtual library extension (VLE) at a remote DR site over a network, and when a DR procedure is initiated, subsequently generated production data (second production dataset) is migrated from the production site VTL to a second logical partition on the DR site VLE) includes modifying the initial production dataset at the production site during the DR procedure, storing the modified data in VTVs of the production site VTL, migrating these VTVs to a local storage system at the production site, and also migrating copies of these modified VTVs to the second logical partition of the DR site VLE (where post-DR-declaration data is stored).
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising after the DR procedure declaration: declaring a completion of the DR procedure; reloading the first production dataset into one or more VTVs of the production site VTL; reloading the second production dataset into one or more additional VTVs of the production site VTL; migrating the first and second production datasets to the first logical partition of the DR site VLE; and emptying the second logical partition of the DR site VLE.
The disaster recovery method described previously (migrating copies of virtual tape volumes (VTVs) holding an initial production dataset from a production site's virtual tape library (VTL) to the first logical partition of a virtual library extension (VLE) at a remote DR site over a network, and when a DR procedure is initiated, subsequently generated production data (second production dataset) is migrated from the production site VTL to a second logical partition on the DR site VLE) includes, after declaring the completion of the DR procedure, reloading the first production dataset into VTVs of the production site VTL, reloading the second dataset into additional VTVs of the production site VTL, migrating both datasets to the first logical partition of the DR site VLE, and emptying the second logical partition of the DR site VLE. This returns the system to its original state.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of logical partitions comprises a plurality of multi-volume cartridge (MVC) pools, wherein the VTV copies are migrated to a first MVC pool of the DR site VLE.
The disaster recovery method described previously (migrating copies of virtual tape volumes (VTVs) holding an initial production dataset from a production site's virtual tape library (VTL) to the first logical partition of a virtual library extension (VLE) at a remote DR site over a network, and when a DR procedure is initiated, subsequently generated production data (second production dataset) is migrated from the production site VTL to a second logical partition on the DR site VLE) specifies that the logical partitions are implemented as multi-volume cartridge (MVC) pools, and the initial VTV copies are migrated to the first MVC pool of the DR site VLE.
13. A system, comprising: a processor; and a memory logically connected to the processor and comprising a set of computer readable instructions executable by the processor to: migrate one or more virtual tape volumes (VTVs) storing a first production dataset from a virtual tape library (VTL) at a production site to a first of a plurality of logical partitions of a virtual library extension (VLE) at a disaster recovery (DR) site over at least one network; declare a start to a DR procedure at the production site; perform at least one of editing and creating at least one production dataset at the production site after declaration of the DR procedure; and migrate one or more VTVs storing the edited and/or created at least one production dataset from the VTL to a second of the plurality of logical partitions of the DR site VLE over the at least one network.
A system for disaster recovery includes a processor and memory storing instructions to: migrate VTVs containing an initial production dataset from a production site's VTL to the first logical partition of a VLE at the DR site; declare a DR procedure start; edit or create production data at the production site after this declaration; and migrate VTVs containing these edited or created datasets to the second logical partition of the DR site VLE. This setup isolates data before and after the disaster declaration for recovery purposes.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the memory comprises another set of computer readable instructions executable by the processor during the DR procedure to: read the one or more VTLs storing the first production dataset from the first logical partition of the VLE into a VTL at the DR site; modify the one or more VTLs storing the first production dataset at the DR site; and migrate the modified one or more VTLs storing the first production dataset to a third of the plurality of logical partitions at the VLE.
The disaster recovery system (migrating VTVs containing an initial production dataset from a production site's VTL to the first logical partition of a VLE at the DR site; declaring a DR procedure start; editing or creating production data at the production site after this declaration; and migrating VTVs containing these edited or created datasets to the second logical partition of the DR site VLE) further includes instructions to, during the DR procedure: read the VTVs storing the initial dataset from the first logical partition of the VLE into a VTL at the DR site; modify this data at the DR site; and migrate the modified data to a third logical partition at the VLE. This allows for modifications during the DR event.
15. A method, comprising: first receiving, in a first of a plurality of logical partitions of a virtual library extension (VLE) at a disaster recovery (DR) site, one or more virtual tape volumes (VTVs) storing first production data from a virtual tape library (VTL) of a production site over at least one network; and second receiving, in a second of the plurality of logical partitions of the DR site VLE, one or more VTVs storing second production data from a VTL of the DR site, wherein the second receiving occurs after declaration of a DR procedure between the production site and the DR site.
A method involves first receiving VTVs containing initial production data from a production site's VTL into the first logical partition of a VLE at a DR site via a network. Then, VTVs containing second production data are received into the second logical partition of the DR site VLE, this occurring after declaring a DR procedure between the production and DR sites. The separation of the data streams based on pre/post DR procedure declaration is important.
16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising: generating or modifying the second production data at the DR site.
The data separation method of receiving VTVs containing initial production data into the first logical partition, then receiving VTVs containing a second dataset into the second partition after DR declaration, further includes generating or modifying the second production data at the DR site. This indicates that the DR site is not just passively receiving data but actively participating in data management during the DR event.
17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising: reading data from the first logical partition of the DR site VLE into the DR site VTL; modifying the read data; migrating the modified read data into the second logical partition, wherein the modified read data is the second production data.
The data separation method of receiving VTVs containing initial production data into the first logical partition, then receiving VTVs containing a second dataset into the second partition after DR declaration, further comprises reading data from the first logical partition into the DR site VTL, modifying the read data, and then migrating the modified data into the second logical partition, effectively making the modified data the second production data.
18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising: third receiving, in a third of the plurality of logical partitions of the DR site VLE, one or more VTVs storing third production data from the production site.
The data separation method of receiving VTVs containing initial production data into the first logical partition, then receiving VTVs containing a second dataset into the second partition after DR declaration, adds a step of receiving VTVs storing a third dataset from the production site into a third logical partition of the DR site VLE.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the third receiving occurs after declaration of the DR procedure between the production site and the DR site.
The data separation method that receives a third dataset into a third logical partition (in addition to receiving initial production data into the first logical partition, then receiving VTVs containing a second dataset into the second partition after DR declaration) specifies that receiving the third dataset happens *after* the declaration of the DR procedure.
20. The method of claim 15 , further comprising during the DR procedure: restricting the production site's access to the second logical partition; and restricting the DR site's access to the first logical partition.
The data separation method of receiving VTVs containing initial production data into the first logical partition, then receiving VTVs containing a second dataset into the second partition after DR declaration, includes restricting the production site's access to the second logical partition (containing data generated after DR declaration) and restricting the DR site's access to the first logical partition (containing the initial dataset) during the DR procedure. This limits potential conflicts and ensures data integrity.
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January 13, 2017
July 11, 2017
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